


Fly

by ceilingfan5



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, Gen, M/M, This is going to be long, Wings AU, everybody is about college age, if you know more about sign language than we do and think we need to talk please let us know, kiyoko and yachi are vets, kiyoko is hard of hearing!, no one will bang in this fic, noya and tanaka and kageyama share an apartment, some mentions of animal abuse, this will get more complicated in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-31
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-04-18 05:59:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4694723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceilingfan5/pseuds/ceilingfan5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tanaka and Noya's fun day at the circus is interrupted by the discovery that the winged "Crow Child" (Hinata) is not only real,  but in real trouble. The only thing to do is to bring him home to their apartment, of course! Their roommate, Kageyama, will just have to deal with it. Things get serious with the discovery of other mutants, and our band of misfits may just have to save the day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bird Brains in the Big Top

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on tumblr user Jean-Bo-Peep's wings au and co-written with them. Special thanks too to Shafusu, who helped a lot in the initial concept work and who is writing a darker version of the wings au here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/4721276/chapters/10787651 Tags will be updated with more chapters.

The air inside the big top was always too heavy. The stench of old hay and people was always palpable, the rewarding aroma of popcorn a small comfort. Tanaka Ryuunosuke and Nishinoya Yuu weren’t paying attention to any of that. The circus was in town, and they weren’t going to go home until they saw something amazing. They were not about to be disappointed.

In midair before them, an unbelievable sight was set aglow. A nimble boy, hair bright as fire, was swooping back and forth, ghosting past the hair of audience members with his enormous raven wings. He flew over the crowd, then rose to the top of the tent and dove, shaking the grounds with the oohs and ahhs of his fans. Nothing they’d seen before this main event compared to the bird-boy.

“That’s right folks, he’s here right in front of you!” the Ringmaster's voice boomed through the tent, “The wonderful miracle of nature, an angel on Earth, the nearly indescribable Crow Child!”

Noya gasped, knuckles white from grasping the railing protecting their front row seats from the talent of the dirty ring below.

“Five hundred yen says he isn’t even real.” Tanaka snorted.

“Like you have five hundred yen in the first place! Stop being a skeptic for an hour, won’t you?” Nishinoya couldn’t help being enchanted by the main act. The idea of being able to fly, to push yourself so high above the ground--it was magical.

“Please, you can totally see the wires, it’s not even-” Tanaka began to say, but before he could finish his criticism, a lightning-fast streak of sequins and dark feathers blew him back. The dynamic acrobat pushed off the bar in front of them and shot to the peak of the tent. The spotlights all trained on him, sparkling and glowing while his wings worked to keep him aloft. The audience’s appreciation was deafening as he raised his arms and smiled brighter than any light in the arena.

Tanaka’s jaw went slack.

“Okay, maybe he’s the real deal.”

Noya punched his shoulder.

“Told you.”

“He nearly took my fingers off!”

“What,” Noya laughed. “With his scary bird-man talons?”

“I’m serious!”

The Ringmaster closed the show with a grand “And that’s all, folks! Goodnight!”

All the acrobats and animals and other performers left the arena to lively music, and the tent flaps opened to let the spectators leave. The boys blinked in the blinding sunlight, losing track of the one act that had grabbed their attention and refused to let go. The crowd began to disperse, chatter filling the thinning tent. But Tanaka and Noya couldn’t move from their seats. They had to see more. The show couldn’t just end there.

With a calculating look, Noya nudged his best friend.

“We could, uh. Ask him to apologize to you.”

Tanaka raised an eyebrow.

“Well...I do need these hands in perfect condition to woo the ladies.”

“He’s probably got one of those actor’s trailers, or something.” Noya finally stood, peering around the tent as if he could see it from there.

“It’s probably out back,” Tanaka pointed out.

“Then let’s go!”

The area outside of the tent was crowded and bright. They’d forgotten it was day in the darkness of the arena, and the thick waves of people made it difficult to move around.

“I can’t believe this…” Noya griped, standing on his tiptoes and craning his neck. “How the hell are we supposed to find him in this mob?”

“We just have to try harder!” Tanaka crowed, jumping to see better.

“Wait,” Noya said suddenly, flinging out an arm to stop Tanaka in his tracks, smacking him square in the stomach. “Put me on your shoulders!”

“YES!” Tanaka yelled, high-fiving him immediately. “Together, we’ll be way more powerful!”

“Yeah!” Nishinoya scrambled up Tanaka like a tree to sit firmly on his shoulders.

“Watch your fuckin’ knees!”

“You watch them!”

“I am watching them! They’re in my eyeballs!”

“I’ll be your eyeballs!” Noya wrapped his arms around Tanaka’s head like a monkey and surveyed the landscape of the circus. Tanaka grumbled, but he held tightly to Noya’s legs so he wouldn’t fall.

“I can’t see him!” He dug his heels into his friend. “Come on, move!”

“What am I, a horse?” Tanaka scowled.

“A horse’s ass, more like!”

“Bro...too far.”

“I’m sorry, bro.”

“It’s ok bro, just buy me an ice cream and we’ll be ev-”

“WAIT…I think I see something!”

Noya pointed out a small trailer near the edge of the campgrounds and Tanaka rushed toward it, plowing through crowds of families and children with cotton candy mustaches. It wasn’t easy to get through, but the two of them weren’t about to back down from a challenge. As they neared the rusty hunk of junk, Tanaka slowed to a stop.

“Woah.”

The door was heavily chained shut, the roof was clearly caving in, and the whole thing smelled strongly of hay and animal droppings. As they approached, crows that had been perching on the roof flew off like a bad omen in a Halloween movie. The trailer hardly looked mobile, let alone safe to live in.

Noya wrinkled his nose.

“This can’t be it,” he said, sliding down from Tanaka’s shoulders.

“No,” Tanaka pointed out, gesturing to the dark feathers that littered the dirt. “Those are his, alright.”

Noya grimaced at the ground, suddenly realizing he shouldn’t have worn his favorite sneakers. How could a person choose to live like this?

“Should we...” He chewed on his lip. “Should we knock?”

Tanka shrugged.

“Worst thing he can do is tell us to fuck off.”

“What if he’s like, some kind of terrifying hermit?”

“He looked fine during the show! Don’t be a baby.” With that, Tanaka rapped hard on the door with a fist, stopping any hesitation either of them might have shown.

They stepped back as a loud, tinny squawk emitted from the rusting hull of the trailer.

“Bro, what the fuck was that?” Tanaka’s composure was lost in an instant.

“How am I supposed to know?” Noya snapped back. “Maybe it’s his idea of a joke!”

Tanaka tried again, leaning up to the small barred window to take a peek.

“Uh....hello?” He suddenly stiffened, eyes wide as he stared into the trailer. “No way.”

“No way, what??” Noya jumped as high as he could, trying to see in too. He could hear some scratching movements from inside the crumpled mess, but no more squawking. “Is he in there?”

“Uh,” Tanaka said, not knowing what more to say.

“Well?” Noya put his hands on his hips. “Is he in there or not?”

“He’s definitely in there.”

“How do we get in?” Noya squinted at the windows of the dingy trailer, wondering if he could squeeze through.

“Bro, I think it’s best if we get him out. Like, now.”

“Why?”

Without another word, Tanaka lifted Noya by his armpits so he could peer through the tiny window.

“HEY, LET ME G-...oh.” He swallowed. “Oh my god.”

Tanaka solemnly dropped him, and instead of complaining, Noya immediately spun to face him.

“We have to do something!”

“But he’s chained in there!”

Noya rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Your sister has bolt cutters, right?”

Tanaka shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past her. Saeko is a menace.”

“Perfect.” He leaned up on his tip-toes and whispered into the little window. “We’re coming back for you, okay?”

The performer was barely visible in the dim trailer, his facial expression unreadable. They hoped he knew that they meant well.


	2. PUT THAT THING BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM OR SO HELP ME

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama comes home to find out that his idiot roommates have kidnapped (birdnapped?) Hinata, which goes about as well as anyone could expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! Tell all your friends. Make fanart. We would die for fanart. This is again cowritten with Jean-Bo-Peep and we would LOVE to see what you think. We still have a lot of chapters ahead of us, and we can't wait to share them with you! Your comments and showers of adoration motivate us to keep going!

“Bro, do you know what crows eat?” Noya called from the living room.

Tanaka poked his head out from his bedroom, shirt halfway over his head. The dark hoodie he had snuck out in was covered in filth and feathers, residue from the disgusting living conditions at the circus.

“What?”

“I said, do you know what crows eat? This kid has gotta be hungry, we have no idea when he last ate- oh, never mind, he’s raiding the fridge. He eats people food.”

“Well, he did eat those fries.” He pulled a new shirt over his head and walked back out to the living room. “Have you seen Kageyama? I want to make sure we hide our little Crow Child before-”

“What. The fuck. Is that?” came a slow, careful voice from the doorway. Tanaka and Noya jumped, startled by the sudden appearance of their roommate and certain they were about to get an earful. The performer flattened himself against the fridge, defensive and afraid of the newcomer. He clutched his sandwich close, as if Kageyama would try to steal it from him, or worse. 

“He. Uh.” Tanaka started, not entirely sure where to start with his excuse.

“Meet our new roommate!” Noya declared, as if this was an entirely normal situation to come home to. Kageyama squinted at the beast in his kitchen, who was dropping feathers all over his clean tile floor and eating his groceries. 

“What the hell is it.”

“You already asked that, and don’t be rude! It’s not an ‘it’, he’s a ‘he’.”

“It’s got wings!” Kageyama shouted, pointing aggressively. He’d known his roommates weren’t the brightest, but this was a spectacular new low.

“HE’S got wings,” Tanaka corrected, “And yeah. We broke him out of the circus.”

Kageyama blinked. “I need to sit down.”

“Please do!” Noya pushed a chair over to him, eager to smooth over the transition as fast as possible. Kageyama sat, and stared. The freshly cleaned bird-boy in their kitchen stared back, a towel slung around his neck and eyes wide with new fascination. Despite his aggressive nature and shouting, this new man no longer seemed so scary.

“You broke some kind of bird freak out of the circus, and brought it to our house?? Why- How- When-” Kageyama pinched his nose. “That’s stealing!”

“You can’t own a person, bro! That’s fucked up!” Tanaka folded his arms. 

“Totally fucked up!” Noya agreed. “And the people at the circus were treating him like garbage, so of course we had to break him out!”

“Why didn’t you just call the police?”

The boys looked at each other. The thought had clearly never crossed their minds. 

“Well...does it really seem like they’d believe us anyway?” Noya pointed out, gesturing to the winged boy. “I mean, a kid with wings? I can barely believe it!”

“I don’t believe you, and I’m looking right at him.” Kageyama sighed. 

“See?”

“I’d rather not.”

“Don’t be so sour!” Tanaka clapped him on the back. “We’re doing the right thing, man! This is a good deed!”

“Your good deed is shedding in my kitchen,” Kageyama grumbled. “And eating my food.”

“Ehh, it’ll probably get better when he gets healthy. And we’ll clean up after him. And feed him. Please, just...can we please keep him?” 

Kageyama felt like a mother of two toddlers begging to keep a stray they’d found in the streets. He kneaded his palms into his eyes, sighing loudly. First, they send him out on some weird late-night pharmacy run that he now recognized as a diversion, and then they try to convince him to keep this messy, dirty, freaky bird boy? He couldn’t allow it. It was bound to get them all into trouble. He didn’t even know if the landlord allowed pets! The bird boy could make it on his own, probably. There was no reason to rent out their living room to strange creatures, abused or not. 

But for some reason, those bright eyes struck him. He could feel their pull deep in his chest, and once he looked at them, he couldn’t look away. This guy was like a flame, bright and mesmerizing. 

Kageyama reeled his thoughts back into the realm of sanity. What was he thinking? 

“Does it...does he have a name?” He asked finally, determined to distract himself from those weird reveries. 

“Uh,” said Noya, who had been more concerned about the exciting break-in than any information reconnaissance. 

“Hinata, I think,” Tanaka said, leaning against the bookshelf, “There was a plaque on the door. Hard to read, but you know how good I am at reading bad handwriting,” he added pointedly, glaring at Noya.

“What? I write fast!” 

“Hinata?” Kageyama glanced at the bird boy, wondering if it really fit. 

“Yeah, ‘Hinata’ with the kanji for ‘place in the sun’ and ‘Shouyou’ with the ones for ‘soar visibly’. Isn’t that fitting?” 

“Sounds made up,” Kageyama grumbled, but he had to admit that this Hinata character looked happy to hear his name. He perked at every mention, curious and thrilled to be free.

“Ooh, maybe we should introduce ourselves!” Noya jumped up, excited.

“That’s stupid. Does he even know Japanese?”

Noya folded his arms. 

“It looks like he understands it, but we don’t know if he speaks any. Besides, what’s wrong with him knowing your name?” 

Hinata smiled and looked around the group like he couldn’t wait to find out. Kageyama blinked. 

“Well, uh. I’m Tanaka.”

“And I’m Nishinoya, but just Noya is good!”

All three of them swiveled their heads to stare at Kageyama. He swallowed, a little unnerved by just how far Hinata’s neck could turn. No matter how human parts of him were, the rest was still definitely unnatural. 

“Kageyama.”

Hinata nodded as if he was committing it to memory. He seemed so serious that Kageyama almost snickered, but he turned to Noya and Tanaka before he could break his composure. 

“Here’s a question. How the FUCK did you get him here?”

“Easy!” Noya started. “We snuck out when it got dark-”

“Borrowed Saeko’s bolt cutter-”

“Hopped the fence, found his trailer, sprung him loose-”

“And then took the train.”

Kageyama stared at the two idiots, perhaps for the first time realizing what a bad idea it had been to choose to live with either of them. Surprisingly, he was being less and less fazed by the details of this story.

“You took i-him on the train?”

“Yup!” Noya grinned. 

“How the hell did you get him on the train without being seen? Why didn’t he just… I don’t know, fly away??”

Hinata turned, eager to demonstrate. Metal bands kept his wings from expanding, tight around the raven feathers. They looked painful, or at least itchy. Kageyama unconsciously rubbed at his wrists, hating to picture what it would be like to be cooped up like that.

“He can’t fly, dude.” Tanaka shook his head. “Those bastards had him stuffed in there so he couldn’t get out.”

“But we sprung him anyway!”

Kageyama eyed Hinata.

“Then why didn’t he just...run away? You two are the loudest people I’ve ever met.” Hinata seemed trusting now, but Kageyama couldn’t imagine an abused bird-boy being terribly interested in following these fools right of the bat. It had to have been scary for him, at least at the beginning. Any small animal with concern for its own life would have run immediately, like the tanuki Noya had tried to keep in the yard last year.

“Oh, it was brilliant!” Tanaka puffed out his chest. “I gave him some of my fries!”

Kageyama didn’t bother staring at him this time. He felt like his point had either been well made or entirely missed by this point. 

“You had fries with you.” He couldn’t even raise his voice into a question, propping his tired head on his elbows. “On a rescue mission.”

“I had to have some spying snacks!”

“We stopped by McDonalds before we got there.”

“Good thing, too. This guy loves ‘em.” Tanaka grinned at Hinata, who, to his credit, grinned right back. Kageyama had a hard time imagining a sunny smile like that coming from some kind of creepy hell circus. And, though he didn’t want to admit it, he had a hard time imagining sending it back there, either.

“We just gave him fries until he was cool with us, and then we put him in one of your hoodies and snuck him on the train. It was pretty easy! Everyone just thought he was wasted.”

“Wait...on top of all this, you stole one of my hoodies? How many times have I told you not to go into my room?!” Kageyama cried, running his hands through his hair. There was no way those wings could fit in a hoodie, right? It had to be destroyed, or at the very least, stretched beyond saving. This story just kept getting better and better.

“Come on, Tobio, it was for the greater good! We couldn’t just leave him there!

“And we can’t let him go back!”

“Just look at his cute little face! Can you really hurt a guy who looks at you like that?” Noya pouted, grabbing Hinata’s cheeks in his hands. Hinata took his cue and made wide, tearful puppy eyes at Kageyama, which didn’t help to stop the intrusive and disturbing train of thought that had been chugging along in the back of his mind. 

Kageyama weighed the entire situation. Cons: They could get in trouble with the police for stealing this circus attraction. Hinata could be too loud and alert the landlord and get them kicked out. They’d need to take him out to get exercise and food and...bedding? Woodchips? Whatever birds needed. Messy. Expensive. Dangerous. Pros: …? Were there any? Well, Kageyama certainly wasn’t so mean and cold-hearted as to send him back to the circus, despite what most people may have said about him, and he was sure that Tanaka and Noya wouldn’t let him. He didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

Hinata took another bite of his sandwich, eyes trained on Kageyama. Why the hell was this disheveled bird boy so...ethereal? People imagined angels with wings for a reason, though this wasn’t the pure white being they talked about in stories. Hinata was freckled and as orange as a sunset, feet and hands rough, and...Were those scars? Some of them were pale, old and healed and probably forgotten, but not all of them. Just what were they doing at that circus?

Kageyama tipped his head back, sighing in resignation. “Fine. He can stay.”

Tanaka and Noya’s cheers could have been heard from down on the street. 

“Wait, wait, wait!” Kageyama interrupted, waving his arms over the din of squawks and yells, “Before we do anything else, he needs to get checked out. What if he has...worms or something? The bird flu? He can’t stay with us if he’s going to infect us with some kind of...bird disease.” He folded his arms, looking away from the idiot trio celebrating in his disaster of a kitchen. “And. Well. We should get those things taken off his wings.” 

He pointed defensively at Tanaka and Noya, as if they were going to accuse him of caring about Hinata, “Just so he can escape the two of you morons if this goes south, got it?”

Tanaka pulled out his phone, already grinning slyly. “Don’t worry. I know a place.”

Noya cheered again and pulled a surprised Hinata into a dance, singing and circling around the kitchen and bumping off the counters and appliances without a care in the world. 

“You get to stay! You get to stay!! You get to staaaay!!!”

Hinata laughed and joined in, not sure of his footing but just as excited as Nishinoya. And that laugh, that weird squawky laugh that didn’t sound entirely human but did sound entirely relieved and happy made something twinge in Kageyama’s stomach that he wasn’t entirely familiar with.

Just what the hell had he gotten himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is ceilingfan5 and jean's is Jean-bo-peep. Feel free to message us and find out more about the wings au or just chat with fellow volleyball nerds. I may even take (unrelated) fic requests.


	3. Yachi is real and gay and she stole my heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The roommates take Hinata to the only vet they know (Yachi) to make sure he's in good health, but their unexpected visit leads to more chaos than they planned and Yachi's girlfriend doesn't exactly appreciate the intrusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yachi and Kiyoko finally appear! The new episode inspired us to finish this chapter and made it a lot longer than the first two. Thank you for being patient for the update! School has gotten busy for both Jean and I so it was sort of hard to get together to work on this. As always, please let us know what you think!

Yachi tried to live an average life. She got into vet school, scored an internship at a local office, and worked up the courage to ask out the most beautiful woman in the universe. She’d thought the most amazing thing that would ever happen to her was when Shimizu had said yes, and again when their relationship had somehow, miraculously, gotten serious. 

She had never expected something like this to show up at her door. 

They said his name was Hinata, that much she had registered. But when he tugged off the sweatshirt and his enormous wings unfolded, that was where things went haywire in Yachi’s brain. She didn’t say anything at first. She couldn’t. None of her thoughts would get to her mouth, instead chasing one another around like dizzy puppies. An angel. At her house? At two am. There was an angel. What was she supposed to do about this? An angel. She didn’t know anything about angels. There hadn’t been any diagrams of angels or instructions for angel care in any of her textbooks. She was not an experienced professional for this line of work. Had she missed something? Was she a bad vet? Did she need to hand in her certification and call all of her patients and apologize? How many refunds was she going to have to give out? Their whole practice would go under!

“Um...we’ll pay you anything you want if you don’t tell anybody,” Tanaka said, just as a precaution. 

Yachi fainted dead to the floor. 

The next thing she knew, a soft voice was urging her to wake up, and gentle hands had squeezed her cheeks. Yachi squinted in the bright light, and into focus came Shimizu, hair in curlers and eyes exhausted but ever the heavenly being. A different, more familiar kind of angel.

“There you are, Hitoka.”

Yachi couldn’t help but smile back at her. Everything would be okay if she was here. In fact, she couldn’t remember why she had-

She sat up, and there he was. That Hinata character with the giant wings. And she screamed. To his credit, Hinata just tilted his head at her. 

“I came down to see if you were alright. You’re lucky I could feel you falling down from upstairs.” She readjusted one of her hearing aids, haphazardly put back on to defend against possible intruders.

Yachi blushed. 

“I’m sorry, I just-” 

“Hell of a surprise, isn’t it,” Kageyama muttered dryly. “Now you know how I felt.”

“We tried to break it to you easy!” Noya said, somewhat offended.

“I almost died when I met him.” Tanaka puffed out his chest. 

“Did not!” Noya socked him on the arm. 

“That doesn’t matter,” Kiyoko interrupted, obviously irritated at being woken up this early. “Please explain what’s going on here.” Her eyes snapped to the boys, each suddenly sheepish about intruding into someone’s home at this time of night. 

“Told you we should have waited,” Kageyama snapped. “Now she won’t help us.”

“That remains to be seen.” Kiyoko folded her arms and waited for the explanation. Yachi rested her head against her, relieved to have her support in both a literal and figurative sense.

Noya looked around and figured no one else would take the initiative. 

“Uh...pardon the intrusion but...we found him at a circus and he was living in some shitty trailer so we brought him home and now we need to know if he’s got the bird flu.” 

Yachi and Kiyoko both stared.

“The- You think he has the bird flu?”

“Well, it’s a possibility, isn’t it?” Kageyama glared, a little defensive. “He’s a bird…sort of.”

“Plus we need to get these bands off his wings!” Tanaka added.

“Bands?” Yachi carefully got up, over her shock and hurtling into vet-mode. Kiyoko, not wanting her to fall again, put a gentle hand on her back. “Where?”

“Here!” Noya said, and Hinata turned to show them off, wide metal shackles preventing his wings from opening.

“...Oh. Those bands,” Yachi rasped. What had they been doing to him? Compassion tugged at Yachi’s heart, reminding her of the instinct that had led her to this career in the first place. “The circus put these on?” Hinata slowly nodded, and she felt like she was going to puke. “Don’t worry, we’re going to get them off!”

She ruffled his hair, and though she was immediately embarrassed at treating this person like an animal, Hinata seemed to appreciate it. He gave her one of his sunny smiles and her heart melted. Encouraged, she spun around to her girlfriend.

“Do we still have those wire cutters from the garden fence we were making?”

“What? We should,” Shimizu answered, squinting out the back window into the yard, “But don’t you think those will be too small to-”

There was a dull thud, and suddenly one of Hinata’s wings was free from its bond. They all stared at the shackle, silent. Then the room exploded. Hinata jumped and crowed, excitedly stretching out his wing. Noya and Tanka high fived. Kageyama stopped just short of cheering, biting back the wide grin that bubbled up.

“I did it! I just slipped it off!”

“Bro, that’s amazing!!”

“You idiots didn’t try that in the first place??” Kageyama howled, sobering back to general irritation. “We woke up Hitoka-chan and Kiyoko-san for this!”

Excitement immediately drained, both of them bowed as low as their spines would allow.

“We’re so sorry, Kiyoko-san!” They shouted in chorus. Kiyoko backed up, surprised, and nearly bumped into the counter.

“I- er-” 

“Wait...you might need us after all,” Yachi said slowly, tugging at the second shackle. It held tight. Hinata whined in pain, and Yachi immediately let go.

“I’m sorry- I’m- I’m not used to humans- I mean- treating humans-”

“Just get it off,” Kageyama interrupted. They didn’t have time for this. He wanted to go to bed. “Um...please,” he added as an afterthought.

Yachi jumped at the hand that alighted on her shoulder. 

“Relax,” came Shimizu’s smooth voice, “You’re going to be fine. It’s just another patient.”

“But- he’s not-”

“It doesn’t matter. He needs your help, and you can give it to him. It’s that simple.” Comforted by her partner, Yachi took a deep breath.

“Okay, let’s find those clippers.” She cracked her knuckles and grinned, finally in her element. “We can take you downstairs to the office and get started!”

“Wait-” Kiyoko gripped her shoulder.

“Hm?”

“We can’t bring them down there. There are too many windows and people will see in. We’ll have to grab the things and bring them up,” Kiyoko said, gesturing to the stairs that lead to the clinic under their apartment.

“Oh,” Yachi mumbled, frowning a little. “You’re right...The whole cafe can see in down there.”

“We can go get the wire cutters, if you want,” Noya offered, itching to be of use.

“Yeah, good idea!” Yachi smiled at him, and he melted a little. 

“Me too!” Tanaka added a little too enthusiastically, wanting in on the girls’ attention. Kiyoko covered a smile, and both of them nearly died. “Where is it?”

“You’ll have to look in the garden shed,” Kiyoko said coolly, pointing out the window into the dark. “I don’t think it’s locked.”

“Leave it to us!!” they crowed, and they were out of the kitchen in an almost cartoonish puff of smoke and axe bodyspray.

Kageyama shifted awkwardly on his feet, the room now silent. Hinata seemed to be preoccupied, bright eyes fixed on photos of girls in nice yukatas and people who looked vaguely like the two young women he had just met.

“Uh...is there anything I...can do?” Kageyama asked, shoving his hands in his pockets to stop himself from snatching Hinata away from the breakable mementos.

“Well, Hitoka and I will have to get the medical equipment,” Kiyoko folded her arms, staring at Kageyama like she didn’t exactly trust him with fragile things either.

“Oh, I think I can get it all myself! You should stay here and keep an eye on him.” 

“Is that so?” She put a hand on Yachi’s shoulder as if she was itching to protect her from the intruders. “I think it’s be best if we went together. I don’t want you to drop anything.” 

Her hands had more to say than her lips. Discreetly, she signed her real intentions to her partner.

/I think we need to talk about this./

“Really?” Yachi bit her lip. /Why? Do you think they’re dangerous?/

Suddenly, Hinata’s excited squawking filled the room. Everyone’s heads whipped around to see the winged boy nearly bouncing off the ground, hands moving so fast they were barely visible. 

“What’s your problem, birdbrain?” Kageyama snapped.

“Uooohhh!!” he crowed again, pointing excitedly at Kiyoko’s hands. She stared back at him, surprised. 

“Do you...know this?” she asked slowly, raising her hands. Hinata nodded furiously, grinning bright.

/How much do you know?/ she signed at him.

/Fly,/ he signed back carefully.

/Do you know more?/ Yachi grinned too, excited to have a way to communicate with her patient. This could change everything!

Hinata paused for a second, and then signed the same word again sheepishly.

“Oh...” Yachi put her hands down, disappointed.

“It is a start,” Kiyoko mumbled thoughtfully. “We can teach him more.”

“Oh, great.” Kageyama sighed. “He’s going to learn to talk to us.”

“That can wait,” Kiyoko decided, smiling at Hinata before turning towards the door, “We should get started, Hitoka.” 

“Oh! Right!” It was her turn to be sheepish. She took her girlfriend’s hand and let her lead them down the stairs.

“Guess it’s me and you, fluffy.” Kageyama looked at Hinata distastefully, and huffed when the bird-boy just smiled at him, happy to be acknowledged. 

\--

Shimizu unlocked the door to the clinic, the hallway dim and silent without the usual bustle of vets and animals. The glow of the all-night cafe across the street was almost eerie against the medical equipment and cheery signs that Yachi had designed herself.

Shimizu opened the cabinet of antibiotics, and everything came rapidly rushing down on Yachi once again. What if someone across the street saw them? Maybe they’d think they were robbing the place and call the police! They wouldn’t believe them and then they’d go to JAIL! Yachi was too delicate for jail, there was no way she’d survive in the slammer! And if they went to jail, what would happen to Hinata and the others? They’d take him back to the circus and the boys would go to jail too and Kageyama would glare at her when she was trying to sleep! Shimizu might protect her for a while, but what if there were cuter, tougher girls in prison? Shimizu might leave her for someone else and then who would keep her safe from the litterbugs and drug addicts and-

Shimizu pressed her soft lips to Hitoka’s and the hailstorm of anxiety in her brain settled almost instantly, chased away by the soft scent of Shimizu’s bodywash. She was so good at that, or maybe Hitoka was weak to her particular brand of kisses, but she always knew when Yachi needed a break from her own thoughts.

/Relax,/ she signed gently, barely visible in the dim yellow light. /I’m here./

Yachi nodded enthusiastically, still reeling from the kiss. “Wh-what did you want to talk about?”

Shimizu chewed over her words carefully. She didn’t want to offend Yachi, but this wasn’t a good situation for either of them to be in. 

“Do you...trust these people?”

“Huh?” Hitoka asked, taken aback, “Of course! Tanaka seems like sort of an idiot, but he’s a good guy, really! Hinata must have been in a really bad place for them to break him out. That was dangerous in itself.” Images of clowns with police badges and chainsaws danced through her mind, chasing after two idiots toting a crowing Hinata like a feathery kite. “What are you worried about?”

“Hitoka...” she bit her lip. “How closely did you look at Hinata?”

“Hm?”

“I know we don’t usually practice on birds here, but you’re certified for them, right?”

“Of course I am!” Yachi puffed her tiny chest out with pride. “You helped me study, remember?”

“Just checking.” She smiled at her girlfriend, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear affectionately. “But you know that bird and human anatomy are almost nothing alike.”

“What does this have to do with Tanaka and Kageyama and Noya?” Yachi frowned, not seeing the connection.

“The amount of money and time that it would take to make something...someone...like Hinata...well. Let’s say I don’t think it happened naturally.”

“Well, I could have guessed that much,” Hitoka admitted, “What are you getting at? That he’s...illegal or something?” 

“Almost definitely,” Shimizu whispered. “The amount of power it would take to make people like Hinata--and he can’t be the only one. Something like this would take decades of experiments--whoever made him would be looking for him. And people like him would be created for a reason, not just for fun. It would take too much time and money to do it just because.” She took a steadying breath. “Seeing as neither of us have ever heard of something like this...I’d bet they’d go to any length to keep him a secret. I hate to say it, but someone like Hinata isn’t natural.”

“But he was at a circus!” Yachi felt a little dumb arguing with her, but how could Hinata have ended up at a place like that if he was such a precious...experiment? Thinking about that friendly guy like some kind of science project made her shiver.

“They may have had him illegally too. It doesn’t matter. I just...” She looked pained. “Hitoka, do we really want to get mixed up in this?”

Yachi frowned and folded her arms. 

“We can’t just refuse to help him! He could be sick, or worse! Shimizu, what if he dies? That’ll be on me!”

“I’m not suggesting that we abandon him. I’m just saying we need to be aware of the risks here before we commit ourselves to...this.”

Yachi didn’t get serious about many things. Volleyball in high school was one of the first, Shimizu was the next. This bird boy was one of the few things that Yachi wouldn’t let herself be budged from.

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take. I became a vet to help people! Well...animals, but people next! I can’t just let something like this go! You can opt out now if you want to, but I’m helping Hinata no matter what! The way he’s been treated is wrong and I know I have the power to do something about it!”

Shimizu blinked. She traced her fingers over Hitoka’s knuckles, mulling over her words. 

“...Alright. If you’re sure,” she said finally, eyes sparkling through her glasses.

“One hundred percent!”

Shimizu smiled fondly at her, still on the edge, but proud of her girlfriend’s conviction. If it mattered to Yachi, it mattered to Kiyoko.

“Then I’ll be with you all the way.”

They shared another kiss in the relative darkness of the stairwell, happy to find strength in one another. No matter what had to happen in the coming months, they knew they could face it hand-in-hand.

They carried the supplies they needed back up the stairs. Yachi wasn’t about to admit it, but she probably would have had to make two trips if Kiyoko hadn’t joined her. They shouldered their way through the door to find a scene of chaos. Tanaka and Noya had returned with the wire cutters, wielding them dangerously and excited to use them, Hinata had panicked and latched onto Kageyama for protection, and Kageyama was screaming and cursing about the talons digging into his nice leather jacket.

Shimizu watched them idly. /This is gonna be a long night,/ she signed where only Yachi could see. 

/No kidding,/ Yachi signed back.

The boys finally noticed the vets in the kitchen and everyone dropped what they were doing. Hinata reluctantly let go of Kageyama’s shoulders, leaving holes in the leather of his jacket.

Shimizu eyed Hinata’s sharp talons, suddenly wondering if they might need protection to conduct this examination. Usually they wrapped the more aggressive patients in big towels and secured them with binder clips, but something told her that that wasn’t going to work this time. A stroke of genius sent her to their hall closet, digging through the linens and assorted shoes.

“What are you looking for?” Yachi asked, peering over her shoulder.

Shimizu leaned up, proudly dangling her prize with slender fingers. “Mittens.”

Hinata didn’t seem to sense the implications of these warm things the nice ladies put on his hands. Where did his fingers go? They were all one now! It was sort of cool, actually! He grinned and showed Kageyama, still figuring out how to wiggle them all together like that.

“500 yen Kageyama gets the worst of it,” Tanaka whispered to Noya, about as discreetly as a flaming pink poodle on roller skates. 

“You’re on.” Noya grinned back. 

The noise didn’t start until Kiyoko turned around, pinging the syringe with her finger to release the air bubbles. “This will only pinch a bit,” she promised. 

By the time the last band was removed and Hinata had had all of his shots, Kageyama’s exposed flesh hurt almost as much as his ears. Hinata sulked on the couch, nursing his sore arm. 

Yachi reviewed her list one more time, checking through the necessary vaccinations and examinations. “Alright, it seems like he’s all set,” she chirped, smiling at Hinata over her clipboard. “Sorry, but it really was for the better.”

Hinata whimpered and leaned into Kageyama more, causing the already scowling boy’s expression to darken.

“Don’t worry, little man. We’ll buy you some fries to make up for it.” Tanaka patted him on the head as reassuringly as he could manage.

“Who’s going to make it up to me?” Kageyama rubbed his arm again.

“Oh!” Yachi turned to them. “I almost forgot. You really should stop feeding him McDonald’s.”

“What??” Noya and Tanaka exclaimed in chorus. “What are we supposed to feed him?”

“Something a human digestive system can handle,” Kiyoko said with what Yachi could have sworn was a smirk. She readjusted her bathrobe and sighed, glancing at the sunrise peeking through the kitchen window. “Now, it was lovely to meet you, but it’s five in the morning and I’d like to try and get some sleep. Good luck with...everything. And next time...” her tone grew stern, and the boys all gulped in unison. “Call ahead.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is ceilingfan5 and jean's is jean-bo-peep. Feel free to message us, make us art (wink wink), or talk to us about the wings au!


	4. Kageyama Finally Dies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama gets to know Hinata a little better. Hinata finally gets to fly free. Something dark looms in the background.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience! Here's a new chapter!

Within the week, Hinata had made himself at home in the trio’s apartment. They didn’t have an extra bed for him, but he seemed content to make a nest out of blankets and pillows in the middle of the living room floor. They cleared out the linen closet, let him have all of the old towels, and even bought him a stuffed animal to keep him company when they weren’t home. But Kageyama never got used to feeling of eyes boring into the back of his head whenever he got up for a glass of water, or to the little black feathers he found all over the apartment, no matter how often they vacuumed. (It wasn’t very often anyway; Tanaka and Noya were terrible at housekeeping.)

He had to pick them out of his coffee. He had to pull them out of his hair. He found them in his laundry, in his shoes, in his bed (that one was a complete mystery), and all over the floor, and soon after he found them on the floor, he found the rest of his body there too.

“Aaah, shit…” Kageyama groaned, pushing himself up on his elbows in the pitch dark. He hoped the clamor didn’t wake his roommates, who always gave him a hard time if they lost any sleep. Their last argument about hitting volleyballs off the wall had almost gotten them evicted. He didn’t hear any movement from down the hall, but a slight rustling from the living room made him cringe. There was no settling Hinata once he woke up. 

Hinata blinked at him in the light of the moon, hair even messier than usual. His wings were lax and ruffled, shirt rumpled and cheek lined with pillow creases. Kageyama’s chest felt like it was sliding down a cliff. /Nope/, he thought, clambering to his feet, careful to avoid the fluffy down that he had slipped on in the first place. 

“Thanks a lot,” he hissed, though Hinata didn’t seem to look sorry. He looked more like a sleepy puppy. Bird-puppy. Whatever. It was too late to be thinking.

Kageyama continued through to the kitchen, his own breathing too loud for him in the silence of the dark apartment. Having forgotten to eat dinner, his stomach had woken him up and wasn’t about to be argued with. It always won, anyway. He threw together a quick, sloppy sandwich and grabbed the carton of milk, and when he sat down at the table, he found that he was no longer alone.

“Go back to bed,” he spat. “Get out of here!” But Hinata just smiled and tilted his head at him. “I know you can understand me, you dumbass! Go back to your...nest!” He pointed aggressively at the living room, but Hinata didn’t budge from his chair, instead resting his chin on the table and lazily letting his wings expand behind him. 

Kageyama huffed and took a sip directly from the carton, trying to avoid the innocent gaze of the winged boy across the table. It was awkward, just staring right back at him, and he never knew what to say. It was hard enough to talk to people that could actually reply. He took a big bite out of his sandwich to give himself something to do, and Hinata scooted even closer to him.

“What do you want from me, huh?” 

Hinata didn’t answer, of course, but instead reached out to brush his fingers through Kageyama’s messy bedhead. For the first time in a long time, Kageyama was quickly and painfully aware of how shitty he probably looked. He hadn’t showered since the day before yesterday, his pajama shirt had god-knows-what stains on it, and on top of all that he was just in his boxers. The sane part of his mind, of course, had to take control and reprimand his pounding pulse. This was just Hinata, just some idiot bird kid they were helping out, doing his weird bird thing. Who happened to be combing his fingers through his hair. And wearing a shirt too big for him, the neckline drooping to reveal the barest hint of a collarbone. Kageyama’s shirt, to be precise. 

Didn’t look like he was getting it back any time soon.

It took him a second to react, and another second to get over the fact that it sort of felt nice and maybe his initial reaction to slap him away could have been ill-advised. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He pulled out of arm’s reach, taking his sandwich with him. Hinata stared at him for a bit, then used both hands to flatten his own hair in what Kageyama assumed was supposed to be some kind of impression of him. Hinata scrunched up his face and scowled, and then Kageyama knew for sure that it was supposed to be some kind of impression of him. 

“Hey,” he barked, forgetting the other sleeping members of the household, “What-”

Hinata interrupted him by lunging forward and snapping a bite of his sandwich. Kageyama grabbed for him, chasing him into the living room, but his reflexes were quick, and he turned around and did the impression again, squawking and laughing his croaky laugh. It was a stupid sounding laugh, but something about it caught Kageyama off-guard. 

“You little-”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” came a shout from down the hall, stopping the two in their tracks. Hinata used the opportunity to shove the rest of the sandwich in his mouth and gobble it down before he could be strangled.

Kageyama growled, unable to shout at him anymore. 

“You hungry too, you little brat?” 

Hinata brightened, nodding enthusiastically. Something in Kageyama’s gut tightened, and this time, it wasn’t hunger. Probably. He balled his hands into fists and willed his gut to cut that shit out and get it together, instead turning and marching back into the kitchen, face burning.

The fridge cast an eerie yellow light into the room, the cool air soothing Kageyama’s almost feverish skin. He hoped to god it wasn’t...well. He just had to distract himself, that’s all… What was left from the last grocery trip? Some ham, sour cream, a warm hand on his back, lettuce… wait. 

Hinata leaned in under his arm, examining the contents of the fridge with the same genuine animalistic curiosity. Kageyama jumped, and Hinata almost got his head stuck in his armpit. He squawked, trying to get back, but Kageyama gave him a noogie for startling him, not that he was about to admit it.

“Dumbass!” he gasped, trying to catch both his wits and his breath. Maybe it was just too late at night. Kageyama always lost his composure if he was up too late. That was probably it. That was all. Just sleep deprivation and nothing more. “Stop touching me!”

Hinata shrank back, immediately apologetic, and Kageyama couldn’t help but notice the shine of old scars on his arms. Did he think…? Well, in a place like that circus, stealing food wouldn’t be a crime punished by just noogies. If Tanaka and Noya weren’t exaggerating about the state of the place…

“Um...s-sorry…” he spath through grit teeth, turning back to the fridge. The words felt unfamiliar in his mouth, but even he knew they were necessary here. 

“So...rry,” Hinata repeated, almost too soft to hear. His voice was strange, like his laugh, but more out of lack of use than anything that seemed to be wrong with his throat. 

Kageyama turned to stare at him, unsure if he’d heard correctly. It was impossible, right? The guy just didn’t talk. That’s why Tanaka and Noya kept checking out books on sign language from the library and leaving them all over the place. He hadn’t talked in all the time he’d been there. Why now?

“Sorr-y,” Hinata said again, wringing his hands in his too-big shirt and probably putting more holes in it with his sharp nails. His eyes were big, glittering in the light of the fridge. Afraid. Afraid of him, like he was as bad as those circus freaks who had given him those scars.

His stomach really wasn’t on his side tonight.

“It’s fine,” he mumbled. “Let’s. Just. Food.” Hinata brightened immediately as Kageyama reached for a jar of olives and a package of convenience store rice balls that Noya probably wouldn’t miss. Could birds even eat olives? He had a clear image in his mind of a crow choking on an olive, but maybe it was an olive with a pit. Hell, he choked on those too, sometimes. 

He checked the jar. Pitless. Good. He wasn’t sure how to do the Heimlich maneuver with those huge wings in the way, and there was no way they could call an ambulance for Hinata. He unscrewed the lid and suddenly wondered if Hinata’s sharp talons would make it easier or harder to eat them...It was late. Kageyama wasn’t in the mood to think much, let alone plan ahead. He tossed an olive into the air and sure enough, Hinata’s instincts kicked in and he caught it perfectly in his mouth.

Kageyama grinned. There was nothing he liked more than a good challenge. 

Twenty-three olives later and they were both laughing, stumbling over chairs and diving to catch more difficult tosses. They moved from the kitchen to the living room, going further and higher with every olive. Hinata refused to let a single one touch the floor. Kageyama refused to make it easy for him. Kageyama lobbed number 24 across the room, and Hinata stretched his wings to propel himself high enough to catch it. Kageyama watched him in what felt like slow motion, his feet leaving the floor and his arms outstretched in what looked like exaltation. 

But the room was not big enough for their game, and Hinata’s head hit the ceiling and his wings crumpled and plaster rained down and the bird boy plummeted and Kageyama didn't’ have time to get out of the way. The wind was knocked from his chest as Hinata landed on top of him. He felt heavier than he looked, but maybe that was the added surprise of renewed gravity. 

Kageyama had no time to choke out an insult before Tanaka stormed out from his room, pillow grasped in his hand like a weapon. 

“What. The FUCK. Is going on out-” He froze in the doorway to the kitchen, his freshly woken mind struggling to process the situation.

Again, Kageyama was snapped to awareness of his position at the moment. Hinata had collapsed on top of him, hands on his chest for balance and wings askew. They had landed in Hinata’s nest, at least that much was given. All the blood in Kageyama’s body seemed to rush to his face, neck hot and hair prickling. How disgustingly cliche. 

Tanaka nodded slowly to himself, did a quick one-eighty, and retreated back down the hall as quickly as he had arrived. 

“Never mind. Just keep it quiet, okay? Goodnight…”

Kageyama was sure his ears were going to burst into flame. He pushed a confused Hinata off of him and scrambled back to his feet. He just wanted a snack. That was all. Was it so much to ask for?

“Um...uh…” he huffed, still reeling from the impact. “We can...clean up tomorrow. Goodnight!” He grabbed the package of rice balls from the kitchen table and then made a beeline for his room. Being up this late was just a recipe for disaster. Nothing good could have possibly come out of it. Except…

His eyes flicked back to Hinata, who was standing dumbly in the middle of his nest and looking like a toy that had been abandoned before it had been turned off. Kageyama glanced at the wreckage they had left, the hole in the ceiling…left behind because Hinata had flown.

A place like this was no place for a person who could fly. 

The cogs turned in Kageyama’s head, rusty with the desperate way his bed was calling to him. Hinata could fly. Just how well? And those enormous wings...he needed an opportunity to stretch them the way nature--or maybe something else--had intended.

“You wouldn’t...wanna go flying, would you? Like...actually outside?”

Hinata’s bright smile was blinding in the darkness. 

 

The warm breeze greeted Hinata like an old friend. It rippled through his hair, ruffled his feathers, gave the barest suggestion of lift under his wings. He ached to get into the air. Standing barefoot in the long grass, the clearing around him wide open and welcoming, he finally had the chance soothe his longing. This was where he belonged.

A mighty whoosh, and Hinata was off the ground in an instant, spiraling towards the clouds. The wind seemed to rip the rest of the filthy residue of the circus from his body, leaving him clean and raw and new. The muscles in his back worked like they had never worked before, keeping him aloft due to his own will, rather than the threat of a punishment. Flying like this--safe, warm, clean, full, no itchy sequins--it was a completely new experience, like flying for the first time again. God, did it feel good. 

It was only natural to want to share it. Kageyama, however, hadn’t really gotten the memo, and was very surprised to find his feet leaving the ground. Tanaka and Noya swore he screamed, but Kageyama later denied their every accusation. And besides, it would have only been natural to scream when a bird-man grabbed you by the shoulders and took you to the skies like a falcon grappling its prey. Could they really blame him for being startled? 

“Oh-my-god-put-me-down-right-now,” Kageyama said through tightly gritted teeth with the most controlled tone he could manage while he was hurtling through the air at a height no human was intended to experience. Hinata, unsurprisingly, didn’t comply, and instead let out a croaky laugh, shifting his hold on Kageyama until his arms wrapped tightly around his chest. Delighted to be where he belonged with his new favorite friend, Hinata coasted on the thermals and dove to feel the air whoosh through his wings. Kageyama looked a little green in the face, but Hinata was sure he’d be fine. He had to get used to it eventually, right? Besides, wasn’t this nice? Hinata had never gotten close enough to feel someone’s heartbeat like this, and Kageyama’s was really pounding. He was holding on really hard to Hinata’s arms, so he definitely wanted them there! He had to be just as excited as Hinata was to finally get out of the house. 

Hinata crowed loudly in his joy, flipping over until he was coasting upside down, head tipped back and Kageyama gasping on his chest. He spiraled to the ground as slowly as the laws of physics would allow, finally pulling up just enough for their toes to drag along the soft grass before they hit the ground. 

Kageyama tumbled to the earth, wheezing and muttering about how much he would never take solid ground for granted ever again. He barely stopped short of kissing the dirt, but he did consider it. His knees were shaking too much to let him stand. Tanaka and Noya just laughed at his misery, pleased the struggle it had taken to get Hinata to the park had been worth it. Hinata laughed with them, throwing himself back into the sky. It was impossible to resist the freedom his wings could give him now, and he didn’t intend to. 

He closed his eyes slowly, letting the sunshine swaddle him and clean air permeate his bones. The peak of his arc felt like floating, devoid of gravity, devoid of anything...until a dark mass of feathers and two strong arms slammed into his side, knocking him off course. The two of them streaked higher into the sky, higher than he could achieve with his own wings, and Hinata struggled with all his might to free himself from the strong grip, all while panicked shouts of his name echoed from the ground below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell us what you think! We love to see your comments (and fanart!!!!!) Check us out at jean-bo-peep and ceilingfan5 on tumblr, or follow my writing blog fan5fics (also tumblr) for more drabbles and notice of everything I post on ao3!


	5. Enter the Fucking Birdman (Who Noya does NOT like)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out who the mysterious kidnapper was and what he wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for being patient with us!

They cascaded through the sky, spinning out of control. Hinata tried to struggle, but the shadow’s grip was too strong. Hinata’s senses were filled with the stench of unwashed animal, greasy food and the filth of captivity. It turned his stomach to be reminded of his time in the circus more than it did to watch the sky and ground rapidly switch places, and every cell in his body screamed for the quick breath of freedom he’d known only moments before. He couldn’t go back. He couldn’t. He’d rather die than be chained again. 

/Calm down!/ 

It took Hinata an embarrassingly long time to register that his kidnapper was trying to communicate with him, not in the language of his captors or rescuers, but in one native only to winged creatures like them. The realization was like a slap in the face, and it forced him to take in the appearance of the thing that had almost knocked him out of the sky: a mutant like himself, even bigger, with enormous reddish-brown wings and long, dirty hair. 

/Please, stop struggling, I’m trying to help you!/ the man urged, righting their flight path and taking him even higher into the clouds. Hinata could feel him following the thermals and felt his own wings ache to experience them. 

/Who are you?? What do you want?/ Hinata couldn’t help but squawk in surprise and fear. Just because this guy was like him didn’t make him trustworthy. 

/I- I’ll explain later, okay?/ The other bird man held him tighter and glanced nervously at the ground. /We just have to get away from those people before they-/ 

/Huh? No, no, you’ve got it all wrong! Those are my friends!/ Hinata couldn’t turn enough to see Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Kageyama on the ground below, but he could almost hear their panicked yelling over the rushing wind. They had to be just about as frightened as he was. 

/Humans?/ The man frowned. /You can’t trust them! You’re still in danger! We can get away and find a safe place to-/

/They rescued me, okay?? They’re not dangerous!/ Hinata indignantly tried to extend his wings to slow them down. 

/THEY rescued you? From what? They’re not like us, how did they not want to kill you?/

/It’s a long story,/ Hinata breathed, a little relieved as their ascent began to slow. The man’s big, brown eyes filled with doubt and Hinata knew he had a chance. /They’re really nice, okay? They gave me a place to stay, and food, and everything! You could probably stay with us!/ And get a bath, but Hinata figured it was best to avoid insulting his captor. The guy looked like he would bolt at any minute, and if the rest of him was as greasy as his hair, there’d be no catching him again. 

/Well.../ The...fragrant...man hesitated, clearly torn. /You don’t know what those things are capable of./

/I do too!/ Hinata narrowed his eyes. /I’ve been through all sorts of things! I trust these guys ‘cause they got me out of there! I think if they wanted to hurt me, they would have done it already./

The man slowed his wings to chew on the idea, and they began to fall. Hinata held on tight, hoping his words were strong enough to convince him. He really, really didn’t want to survive on his own again. 

/C’mon, you’re hungry, right? When’s the last time you had a chance to eat and relax and get clean?/ He couldn’t help it. The other mutant just smelled so bad, and his face was right in the middle of it. Hinata tried to sound as persuasive as possible, but he feared that his voice might have been a few octaves higher than usual. /Please just...don’t kidnap me, okay?/

/You’re...sure you trust them?/ 

/Absolutely!/ 

/And.../ The man licked his lips. /They have food?/

Hinata chanced a grin. 

/More than you can imagine./ Well, that might be a stretch, but if this guy had been on the run, it wouldn’t take much food to look like a feast. /Don’t worry, we can take care of you! Will you come with us?/

The hawk bit his lip, but finally nodded.

/Oh, good!/ Hinata laughed in relief. /Then, um. Can we go back to the ground now?/ 

The man looked a bit sheepish, demeanor finally softening. /Right, sorry.../

 

Noya almost cried with relief as Hinata touched down onto the soft grass with his potential kidnapper, who was starting to look a lot less like an intimidating shadow creature and a lot more like a combination between a red-tailed hawk and a very shy vagabond. That didn’t stop Noya from charging up to them and sticking a threatening finger in the guy’s face, however. 

“How dare you! Who the hell do you think you are, trying to kidnap Hinata? If you want to eat him or lock him up again, you’re gonna have to get through us, you got that?”

The filthy man took a step back, feathers puffing up defensively and fear flashing in his eyes. His large, round, soft brown eyes, framed with long, dark eyelashes... Oh. Noya backed up a step too, almost smacking straight into Tanaka and Kageyama. 

Hinata waved his arms at Noya to stop worrying, laughing and smiling like everything was going to be just fine. He jumped and flapped his wings, trying to gesture to explain what had happened in mid-air, but it was almost unintelligible. The eyes of the gathered party all subconsciously flicked to the hawk-man, hoping he had a bit stronger hold on Japanese than poor Hinata did.

“Ah...I know...you have food?” The hawk-man stuttered in broken speech, signing his words as they tumbled out of his nervous mouth as if that would help his case a little. His voice was soft and raspy and hoarse, though it sounded like it was more from disuse than whatever made Hinata’s voice sound strange. 

“Oi, he talks!” Tanka grinned in relief and Hinata crowed in surprise, already comfortable enough with the new member of their motley crew to be proud of and impressed by him. 

“Thank. God,” Kageyama muttered. “Maybe that’ll make this slightly less stupid somehow.”

“Fat chance!” Tanaka laughed and pounded him on the back. 

“You’re not thinking of taking this one in too, are you?” Kageyama glared at the others. One bird-person was hard enough to deal with. They definitely didn’t have room for two. 

“Pl- ease?” Hinata worked hard to form the word, making those infamous puppy eyes at Kageyama. “Please? Ple-ee-eease?” 

Watching Kageyama and Tanaka argue and Hinata jump up and down to prove his case, Noya was definitely thinking of taking this one in. Irrefutably. Just look at him! The guy was a mess. It would just be inhumane to let him keep living like a hobo. Noya was a little curious to see what he would look like cleaned up, well-fed, and unafraid...It had made such a difference in Hinata, after all. His interests were completely based in charity, and nothing else. Nope. Nothing else at all. He was just...such a good person. He couldn’t possibly leave this guy to fend for himself. It wouldn’t be right. And those big, brown eyes might haunt his dreams. BUT! Those were thoughts to deal with later.

“I- I’m sorry,” the hawkman whispered, and bowed as low as his spine would allow. “Please...help?” 

“Come on, Kageyamaaaa~!” Tanaka elbowed him in the side. “He’s being so polite and everything!”

“Yeah...” Noya swallowed. “We gotta, man. He’s so...” Noya couldn’t finish his sentence and didn’t know if he wanted to. 

Kageyama pinched the bridge of his nose, heaving a long sigh. All of the voices of reason in his head were screaming at him to “Stop, stop right there, don’t you DARE take in another stray, you moron! You’ve gone soft, if you say another word, we swear-”

“Alright, fine. but this is the LAST ONE.”

Kageyama’s head almost split open from the voices yelling both inside and outside his skull.

“Hell yeah!!” Noya and Tanaka jumped and cheered in unison, clasping hands and dancing in the middle of the park. Hinata pushed into their circle to celebrate too, dragging the nervous bird man with him and hugging him like he didn’t need a shower more than food at this point. He wasn’t one for dancing, immediately huddling up to protect himself, but the relief of safety was clear on his absolutely not model-like features. 

“This one got a name?” Kageyama muttered, too stubborn to join the celebration. “Or do we have to make up something, like Tweety-Bird? Poopy? Skittles?“

Hinata giggled as the larger bird-man blushed, spluttering.

“Ah...A-sahi...my name is A-Asahi.”

“I kind of liked Poopy-Skittles.” Tanaka folded his arms. “But, you know. It’s whatever.”

“My name is Asahi!” Asahi repeated, scared that he was being misinterpreted. 

“There’s always Beyonce,” Noya added. “That would work.”

“Asahi! It’s Asahi! My name is Asahi!” 

“Now he sounds like a parrot.”

Hinata laughed and hugged a flustered Asahi around the middle. Asahi seemed completely out of his element, and a little like he would take off again, but the promise of food and the hope of shelter kept him grounded. The dancing slowed to a halt and Kageyama dramatically folded his arms and huffed, taking on the role of the put-upon parent again. 

“We’ll have to get his shots, too.” Kageyama frowned. “And we’ll have to buy more groceries--Noya, are you even listening to me?”

“Whuh?” He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the hawk, who was tucking strands of hair behind his ears and shifting his russet wings uncomfortably, Hinata still wrapped around his waist. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll ask Yacchan again. For the...grocery shots.”

Kageyama scowled. Morons. Why wasn’t HE getting hugged on and danced with? He deserved the most recognition out of any of them, didn’t he? Not by Hinata, specifically. Of course not. Maybe he just felt like getting danced with. And not that he particularly liked dancing. He just didn’t want to be left out, that was all.

He stood by Noya and frowned at the charming scene of dirty bird-men completely ignoring both of them and pretended he didn’t wish he knew how to speak their squawking language. 

/C’mon,/ Hinata chirped, smiling up at Asahi with bright eyes. /Let’s go home./

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ASAHI joins the party! LEVEL UP! For more content like this, check me out on my writing blog fan5fics or my main, ceilingfan5. (When I reach my next follower milestone on fan5fics, I'll do a fic commission giveaway! You can also commission me if you want to help a hungry college student and like what I do!) Find my co-author at jean-bo-peep on tumblr! we love to see what you think and we'd adore getting fanworks! With school getting so busy, this might be the only update until winter break, so please continue to be patient with us! Thank you for reading Fly!


	6. A Salmon Swims Both Ways But it Doesn't Fucking LIKE THE BIRDMAN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noya makes a very important discovery and we've finally reached the most important part: http://jean-bo-peep.tumblr.com/post/126484027658/a-i-r-o-n-why-do-you-torment-me-this-way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your pateince! We got really, really busy, but we're proud to bring you chapter 6! Please, tell us what you think! We love to see comments and fanart. Anything like that absolutely motivates us to write more and faster. You may see a lot of comments on here and think you couldn't possibly have anything to add, but every single one makes a huge difference to us!  
>  Enjoy! We had a lot of fun writing this part, since it was one the ideas that started this whole thing. Take in the fluff, because the ride gets a lot more serious from here.

Nishinoya took a moment to pride himself on his choice of scented body wash. He wasn’t sure how an ocean breeze translated from salty air to such a sweet smell, but it seemed a million times better when it wafted from sparkling clean wings, mixed with the thick scent of something a little bit wild. Tanaka had donated his clothes to the birdly cause after the last fight with Kageyama had left him with two weeks of bathroom-cleaning duty, even though his clothes weren’t exactly big enough and he’d cried a little when his favorite YOLO t-shirt had been slit up the back to allow for Asahi’s gorgeous russet wings.

And god, were they beautiful. A good long bath (and, sadly, half the bottle of Noya’s body wash) had left him practically glittering and squeaky clean. He seemed even bigger now that his feathers weren’t weighed down with grime and his hair wasn’t stuck to his brow with grease. A little part of Noya had withered when he noticed that Asahi’s hair had dried wavy, a dark golden-brown waterfall framing his face, curling gently in front of his big, beautiful eyes, catching in those long eyelashes hung with glittering gems of water from the shower... Jeez, Noya was getting more poetic by the second. Not usually a good sign. The guy was clean, finally, and that was the end of it. He just felt good that he could help another guy out, that was all. It was like rescuing a stray dog. A really handsome, beefy dog. Objectively. Figuratively. Shit, maybe he was just hungry. That had to be it. 

“What’re you hungry for, big guy?” Cooking he could handle. The shower had been a fluke. The clean birdman in Tanaka’s too-small, borrowed clothes (and the ripping he’d had to do to squeeze him in there) had especially been a fluke. It was just like in those weight-loss commercials when there was a before and after picture. You felt happy for the guy because he looked better and could get more girls now, not because you wanted to be with him, or anything. It just felt good to help somebody else out and make him look like an after picture instead of an editorial on homelessness combined with modern art. Now instead of a charity case mixed with a pigeon, Asahi resembled a Michelangelo piece crossed with a Renaissance angel. Okay, maybe he’d been studying too hard for art history, but it wasn’t his fault when he’d been faced with those impeccable pectorals for hours on end. Haha. Okay, now he was making puns. Time to get it together, Noya. 

“Um…” a soft voice permeated Noya’s thoughts, snapping him out of reminiscing about his art textbook. Page 354, specifically. It had a lot of...vocabulary on it.

“Do you....uh...have f-fish?” Asahi asked from his ball in the corner. Getting him into the shower had been a big stretch as it was, and now it seemed like Asahi had no intention of interacting with anyone for the rest of the day. Save getting himself some food. 

“How d’you like it?” He grabbed a skillet from the dish drainer and threw open the fridge, not noticing where the door slammed into the wall or the sticky note left there reminding him not to do that anymore, godammit. “Kageyammers went grocery shopping, so we’ve got lots of food.”

Noya heard the growl of his guest’s stomach from all the way across the room. He turned to see Asahi blushing and squeezing himself even into an even smaller fluff ball, and he tried to pass off the funny feeling in his chest as heartburn from that massive chili cheese dog he’d eaten earlier on the way home from the park.

Busy. Keep yourself busy, Yuu. Fish, get some fish out for fuck’s sake. He pulled out the salmon fillets they’d bought and threw them on the counter as he heated up the stove top. Thank god it was pre-prepared, because he could see himself throwing the whole damn fish in the pan and accidentally frying up eyeballs for dinner. Or maybe this bird guy would like that. They were part human, but they were part something else, too. Weird as hell. How much was bird and how much was person? Where did they draw the line? Woah. Stuff just got heavy. Did they have bird minds? Bird reflexes? Bird dicks?

FISH, YUU. COOK THE FISH. He blushed and ducked his head, sure that Asahi had to be staring at him from his fear corner. Noya almost wished Hinata and Kageyama were still home so they could distract the guy, but they’d snuck out for more supplies. Assholes, leaving him behind to babysit. Not that he...minded, terribly. 

He drizzled oil in the pan and laid a fillet in to start cooking, finally getting himself on task.He could cook. He could cook and he could focus. 

Come to think of it, they wouldn’t be back for a while, and Ryuu was in his room, probably blasting his ears out with music...they were all alone. Or close enough, anyway. As if pulled by a magnet, his eyes slowly traced to the corner of the kitchen, where the only other cognizant person in the apartment continued to stare at him, eyes and ears at attention to the fresh sizzle of salmon. 

Noya crossed the kitchen very slowly to get to the drawer that held the spatulas. The drawer that just so happened to be right above Asahi’s nervous head. The possibility of him striking out in fear was enough to make his stomach clench, but getting closer to those big brown eyes made his stomach feel an entirely different type of way. Asahi tipped his head away skittishly as Noya neared, blinking and swiping at his face when silky hair caught in his eyelashes. It hung so low, covering his face and making it easy to hide, hard to see. 

Hawk eyes like those probably didn’t like obstacles. 

Noya glanced at the green rubber band around his wrist, mindlessly snapped there from the fillet packaging. Tanaka always teased him about collecting things like that because his mind was busy somewhere else. Somewhere else indeed…

“Hey, uh...”

Asahi’s eyes widened at the closeness and he backed even further into the wall, which refused to move at his insistence. His feet scrambled against the kitchen floor for traction, but his struggle was getting him nowhere. As compensation, reddish wings came around him as a wall to barricade against dangers like Nishinoya.

“Hey, woah, I’m not gonna hurt you!” He winced when Asahi shuddered at the loudness in his voice, and he lowered to a whisper and his knees. “I just want to help you, okay?” He showed the birdman his exposed wrist and the grocery band that hung there. “Dontcha wanna get that hair out of your face?”

Asahi hesitated, eyes flickering from Noya’s expression to the rubber band and hands running timidly through the hair in his face. Danger. Relief? Danger. Relief…

He nodded very, very slightly, shifting the wall of feather and muscle to allow Noya to slide his hands through, lean intimately close to tie that long hair into a ponytail, and reveal Asahi’s entire face for the first time.

This turned out to be the worst mistake of Noya’s pathetic life. 

“There, isn’t that b-”

Cheekbones. Jesus, Buddha, Zeus, this bird man sitting in Noya’s kitchen had the most flawless cheekbones Noya had ever seen. And those eyes, so much more beautiful up close and undisguised, sucking his soul straight through the center and spitting out his skeleton on the other side. Oh no, even his NOSE was perfect, straight and strong...and he had facial hair--how did birdmen even have facial hair? Why did a guy like that even need to be adorably, perfectly, roguishly sexily scruffy? It was entirely unfair! Nature couldn’t just do that to a guy! He didn’t even know where to rest his eyes, there was so much to look at and admire! Maybe the way Asahi had softened, almost trusting, or the mouth, with perfectly sculpted lips, so inviting-

“Dude.” 

Noya sprang to his feet fast enough to make Asahi squawk in surprise. Tanaka was leaning against the doorframe, headphones around his neck and an unusually serious expression on his face.

“Can we talk for a second?” Tanaka asked, jerking his head towards the living room. Everything was suddenly too hot for Noya. His ears felt like they could cook the salmon by themselves. His stomach twisted in burning knots. He trailed after Tanaka into the living room, unable to look back at the no doubt confused Asahi sitting on the kitchen floor. 

He wrung his hands, hoping Tanaka wanted to ask for a portion of the fish and not the exact thing he was dreading.

Tanaka plopped down on the couch, rubbing his head in deep in thought. He patted the cushion next to him and Noya obliged, nervously.

“Bro,” Tanaka began. He paused, looking at Noya with intensity. “Listen. I think we need to talk. What...the fuck?”

Noya found himself, not for the first time that day, unable to speak easily. “W-what is it...bro?”

“You’ve been hella fucking gay recently. We’ve all noticed.”

Well! Defense mode activated.

“Me?? Nah…”

“Nah bro, you’ve gotta admit it.”

“Mmmmm…naaah…I’m SO not gay, bro…” He clenched his hands in the fabric of his pants and avoided eye contact, trying to puff out his chest to bluff his way through this mortifying conversation. He needed an out, quickly. Kiyoko’s face suddenly came to mind, like his guardian angel. “I like girls, remember? I like Kiyoko-san! And...that weather lady on the news!”

“Yeah, but don’t you also like the sports guy? And Asahi? Like, a lot?” Tanaka said pointedly. 

Noya considered this. The sports guy did look very nice in a suit jacket. Very trim. You could tell he’d almost had a name in baseball, but had found newswriting more exciting and had put his dreams on hold for a realistic career, which made him wistful for what could have been and also very knowledgeable about sports, which Noya cared a lot about because he was very straight. And Asahi, well. That was just ridiculous. What kind of idiot would accuse him of liking Asahi? He was just trying to be a good host! He was helping a guy out! He definitely wasn’t gay and he especially wasn’t into- whatever the hell that was. Not that there was anything wrong with being gay or anything, but that just wasn’t him! Noya was simply willing to give the clothes off his back and half the space in his bed up, if need be. Because he was a generous, straight, straighty straight straight heterosexual dude, bro! Straighty McStraightson! And...and the guy had wings! That was not a sexy trait, no matter how beautiful or powerful or shiny they were! Okay! Maybe Tanaka had a point!

“You know, there’s a thing where you can like both,” Tanaka said almost nonchalantly. “You could be bisexual.”

Noya’s mind shattered. What? Both? Like...he could be able to like meteorologists AND sports reporters?? Kiyokos AND Asahis??? But no...he couldn’t, because it didn’t make sense!

“Bro...” Tanaka pressed, sensing Noya’s confusion. 

“I DON’T FUCKING LIKE THE BIRDMAN,” was the only thing that came out of the fog. Tanaka opened his mouth to speak or laugh or ask him to repeat the stupid thing he’d just shouted loud enough for half the building to hear, but Noya got up and ran for the kitchen. Cooking. He was supposed to be cooking! He didn’t have time for this! Something was burning, maybe Noya’s perception of reality or sexuality or...the fish. Which he’d have to walk past Asahi (a bird-man whom he did NOT like) to get to. Maybe take-out was the better choice. But the better side of Noya guessed it wasn’t worth having take-out in the ashes of a burnt apartment, so he kept his head down and hurried past his house guest and grabbed the pan before it had the chance to burst into flames. 

He chiseled angrily at the charred salmon, the pan clunking against the oven with every upset thrust. Tanaka sighed and leaned against the doorway of the kitchen and watched the disaster in action, wondering how to proceed. 

“Look, man...” 

“Ryuu, can you leave me alone for a sec? I’m having a crisis,” Noya spat as he scrubbed. It was like a whole new terrain has been revealed inside himself and he’d completely lost his metaphorical footing. Asahi staring into the back of his head and Tanaka probing him and the sizzling black fish and the crumbling sense of security was a little too much for him to be able to concentrate. For what may have been the first time in his life, Nishinoya Yuu wished for peace and quiet. Everything was too loud and too much and how the hell was he supposed to think if everyone kept trying to talk to him and-

“Bro, put down the pan.”

“If I fuck up his dishes again Kageyama’s going to kill me!” Noya stopped trying to scrape and just tried to hammer the blackened fish out with the spatula, panic setting in and driving Asahi out of the room to prospective safety. “I can’t- I can’t- I can’t deal with all of this-”

The piece of fish Noya was hammering at chose this moment to break free of the blackened mess of the borrowed skillet, hurl itself off the spatula, and stick to the wall with a crispy, wet slap. Noya stared at it like it had personally betrayed him, uncertain what he could possibly do to fix the mess he’d gotten himself into.

Tanaka, thankfully having a moment of more sense than Nishinoya, turned the stovetop off and put a hand on Noya’s shoulder. He gently helped him lower the frying pan into the sink and turn on water to help it soak. He then hugged his friend and pulled him close, desperate to help him relax before something got broken, or at least broken worse.

“Yuu, listen. I’m trying to tell you that it’s okay. If you’re bi, it doesn’t matter to me. It’s okay, okay? Just chill out.”

Noya tried at a smile, a huff of a laugh.

“Thanks, bro. But it doesn’t really matter if it’s okay with you, I just...gotta get this all together. Get it all straightened out. Ha.”

“Stop making jokes when you’re scared, dork.” Ryuu thumped him on the forehead and Noya tucked his face into his friend’s shoulder, unwilling to look him in the eye. “Besides, don’t you HAVE to give a shit about what I think? We live in the same house.”

“No one cares what you think,” Noya grumbled into his armpit. 

“Suuuure.” He patted Noya’s head, watching as his breathing slowly calmed down. “Real cute.”

“Don’t fuck up my hair, you’ll make me less cute.” 

“I don’t think you can possibly sink any lower, dude.”

“When there’s a dumbass, there’s a way.” Noya slowly relaxed and pulled away from Tanaka, keeping his embarrassed eyes on the floor. “Listen, Ryuu, uh...”

Tanaka shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just worry about solving your crisis and feeding ourselves before you burn something else to the sixth circle of hell.” 

“Ha ha, very funny,” Noya deadpanned, but he secretly appreciated the support. “Usually I’m a good cook.”

“Debatable.” Ryuu grinned. “Let’s let the good boys at KFC do your dirty work for us while we do a couple google searches.”

Noya chewed his lip, hesitated, and asked the dangerous question anyway.

“Do you...really think I’m bisexual?” 

Tanaka raised his eyes up to heaven and sighed as dramatically as possible. 

“Do you know how fucking long I’ve been waiting for you to figure that out? Matsuda-san isn’t even a good sportscaster!”

“You leave him out of this! It’s not his fault! The station has been breathing down his neck lately, so cut him some slack!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check me out at my writing blog, fan5fics, where I'm still offering commissions at a discount if you have some holiday money or belated gifts your need to take care of! Also feel free to talk to me at my main, ceilingfan5, or find my co-author and more wings au goodies at jean-bo-peep on tumblr!


	7. Shit gets Real

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The band of weirdos returns to the vet and discover that the mutant situation is a lot more serious than previously thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You read that chapter title. Take a deep breath of fluff, because things are getting serious from here on out. Thanks for your patience! We hope you're enjoying Fly! If you like it, please let us know in the comments! Your nice messages fuel every paragraph!

“Where are you finding these guys?” Kiyoko sighed, running fingers through her sleek wavy hair. The ragtag group of mutants and college kids had decided not to wait until four in the morning this time to drop in on their vets, and as a result Kiyoko seemed more agreeable and less like she was about to snap someone's neck. Yachi, of course, was as chipper and anxious as ever.

Asahi cowered near the door, contradicting his own imposing figure. Yachi didn’t seem any more confident, hovering behind her girlfriend and playing with her fingers nervously. Hinata was the most nervous out of all of them, certain they had returned to subject him to more torture. He kept grasping at the phantom ache in his arm, a ghost of the needle that had stabbed him there, and huddling against a glowering Kageyama with fear in his wide eyes. To his credit, Kageyama didn’t push him away. It was better if Hinata was quiet than if he was flapping around and screeching, or worse, running for it. 

“He came out of nowhere and tried to abduct Hinata!” Noya gestured wildly to illustrate just how dramatic it had been. He was only showing off a little. “We almost thought Hinata was a goner! But then he talked Asahi here into sticking with us and getting a shower, so they came back!”

“I’m glad you all got a shower first, at least. The last time you guys came in here you still had bird poop all over your shoes,” Kiyoko said flatly as she tapped a syringe and eyed the motley assemblage. Noya laughed weakly and kicked his legs, looking small from his seat on the counter.

“He almost wouldn’t let us give him one.” Tanaka shoved his hands in his pockets. “Guy nearly clawed us up.”

“Oi, don’t be so hard on him.” Noya frowned. “Wouldn’t you be spooked too?” They watched Asahi meekly submit to the vaccinations, nervous but not panicking, as if he had quite a bit of experience with such things.

“Course I would! But you know what would spook me more than running water? Fucking needles. And YET.”

Kiyoko laughed. Tanaka and Nishinoya saw heaven’s light and thanked God accordingly.

“W-we’ll be able to make it quicker this time, now that we know more about them. Although, it’s weird...I wondered if maybe Hinata was just an accident, all by himself, but...I guess there are more like him after all.” Yachi frowned. “Well, maybe not an accident, you know, but. It was an accident that he was alone, I guess?”

Hinata glared at the syringe in Kiyoko’s hand and pressed himself harder against Kageyama for protection. Kageyama, in turn, tried very hard to ignore the growing flush to his face. 

“It’s not for you, alright? Stop freaking out, you big chicken!” Kageyama growled through gritted teeth, but that didn’t stop Hinata from ducking under his arm and cowering.

“Guess he’s not a fan of yours.” Tanaka grinned obnoxiously. “If the big one panics like that, we’re through. You should hug him too, Yuu.”

“Har har har,” Noya drawled, glaring daggers at him. 

“Just a suggestion,” Tanaka said casually, smirking in Noya’s direction. “You might be surprised what could work for you.” 

The daggers grew into longswords. Tanaka remained bulletproof. Swordproof?

“Hey, i-it’s alright!” Yachi cooed, edging closer to Hinata, hands outstretched in peace. Distractions were cheaper than disaster. “We’re not gonna hurt you. Do you...wanna learn some more sign?”

Hinata stared at her suspiciously, but slowly edged beyond Kageyama’s protection. He didn’t let go of his sleeve, however, and Kageyama winced at the sharp claws digging nervously into his arm. 

“Let’s start with the basics! This one means good morning.” She gestured slowly and Hinata tracked her with glittering eyes, excited at the possibility of communicating with his new friends. When she repeated the gesture, he followed her example and signed a sloppy yet enthusiastic good morning. 

“Good, good!” She smiled and he mirrored her, finally letting go of Kageyama, who breathed out in relief and backed away while he still could. “How about this one?”

Yachi began to show Hinata how to sign /hungry/, but she was interrupted by a shadow lurking at her shoulder. She made a noise like a startled kitten, jumped and almost smacked her head on Asahi’s chin, spooking everyone in the vicinity. 

“Ah- um- I- sorry-” she stammered out, Asahi looking equally frightened. He waved his hands in some sort of apology, swallowed, then signed a nervous and shaky /You...know sign?/

Yachi and Kiyoko shared a baffled look. Yachi turned back to Asahi and nodded slowly, careful not to startle him again. 

/Kiyoko is better, but yes./

For what might have been the first time, Asahi smiled. Water turned to wine. Flowers bloomed. Noya’s heart grew three sizes that day. 

“Um...did you...teach him that?” Yachi asked.

“No,” Tanaka said. “I only know one sign.” 

“The middle finger doesn’t count.” Kiyoko refrained from snorting. Kageyama frowned, wondering what about the message it conveyed wasn’t as valid as hungry or good morning. Surely it was just as useful.

“Hey, it’s a hand sign that says something!” Tanaka huffed, folding his arms. Noya, finally regaining self-awareness, snickered, and Kageyama nodded in agreement. “Besides, what’s so weird about this?” 

“It’s just unusual that someone who came from the woods with no human interaction would know sign language…” 

Asahi looked at the floor. 

/I didn’t come from the woods. I was just hiding there./

/Hiding? From what?/ Kiyoko stepped closer to Asahi, who was already looking at her with more trust than he’d awarded any of the party so far. Noya shoved his jealousy as far down his throat as he could manage without choking.

/Don’t know,/ he signed hesitantly. /But they’re bad. They have my friends./

/Your friends? Are they like you?/ 

Asahi shook his head, soft locks of hair escaping his ponytail. Noya’s breath caught in his chest. Kageyama, Hinata, and Tanaka wished they knew what was going on.

/No, they’re humans. Sawamura Daichi and Sugawara Koushi./

/Why did those people take your friends?/ Kiyoko frowned and Yachi bit her lip. 

/It’s...It’s my fault.../ Asahi looked again at the floor, fear coloring his eyes. Noya didn’t know what he was saying, but he definitely wanted to protect the fuck out of his big bird friend. /Suga and Daichi...weren’t supposed to keep me safe. Men in uniforms came into their house and took them away, so I escaped and hid in the woods. That was four months ago...I always felt like I was going to be found and taken too./ He hunched his shoulders and Kiyoko struggled to make out what he was signing next. 

/I know where they were taken but I don’t know if they...if they’re still alive./

He didn’t add anything else, the silence suddenly feeling too heavy to stand in. Kiyoko and Yachi took a long look at one another, faces pale, certain the implications couldn’t be good. Tanaka finally broke the quiet.

“Okay, so, what the fuck did he just say?”

“Uh...his friends...human friends...were taken away for, um...harboring him.”

“But- now we’re his human friends and we’re harboring him!” Noya gripped the counter tightly. “Are we going to get taken away?”

“What about Hinata?” Kageyama was the one grabbing Hinata by the sleeve this time, suddenly feeling just as protective as Noya. He ignored the startled squawk. “Are they after him too?” 

“This isn’t about Hinata!” Noya glared at Kageyama.

“It is now!” Kageyama balled his free hand into a fist, ready to go to bat for the mutant he’d only just met. 

“Fuck you, this is about all of us!” Tanaka glared at the others. “If they find out we’ve got these bird nerds, we’re all in trouble.”

“Who is “they”, anyway?” Noya asked. “The police? Military? A gang of clowns from the carnival mafia?”

“That is a possibility...” Kageyama mused, serious, and Tanaka shook his head. 

“Ask him.” 

“He did say they were in uniforms?” Yachi fidgeted, looking for confirmation. Asahi nodded slowly, unsure. A quick flurry of hands, and Yachi took a controlled breath. “It might be like the SWAT team...or something. Oh, wait...can’t we call her about this?” Yachi turned to Kiyoko, gesturing subtly towards the list of emergency contacts on the wall. 

Kiyoko set her mouth in a tight line, considering their options. “Maybe...this might be more serious than we first thought. Since it’s important, she’ll most likely let it slide.”

“Wait, who are you talking about NOW?” Tanaka interjected, thoroughly confused and sick of being left out of the conversation.

Kiyoko gave him an enigmatic smile. 

“Our military contact. Your sister.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can always check us out on tumblr at ceilingfan5/fan5fics and jean-bo-peep! Don't forget to tell us what you think! Are you ready to meet some new characters?


	8. Enter Tanaka Saeko, public menace and gay queen of our hearts (or Shit gets really real, the realiest)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiyoko's military contact has some choice words to say and our party must make a very important decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for hanging with us!! We've reached the calm before the midterm storm and had a chance to finally get another chapter out! Are you ready for shit to go down?
> 
> As always, we appreciate and adore every single comment, whether it's the first time you've left one or the 20th. They really motivate us to keep working on this and other projects, and getting that email from AO3 really makes our days!

“Shimizu, my girl! What’s up, baby??” Saeko Tanaka all but yelled into the phone, speakers vibrating with her enthusiasm and making Hinata and Asahi clutch their ringing ears. They hadn’t been able to call her over with such short notice, but she was more than happy to pick up the phone when her favorite baby brother and his two “hottie hot hottie” friends were on the line.

Kiyoko laughed lightly, holding the phone as far away from her hearing aids as possible. 

“Is Ryuu there?? Hiiii, baby bro!” Saeko crooned, making Tanaka flush beet red and grimace. Noya made a kissy face at him, fully indulging in his embarrassment. 

“He totally is, and me too, Nii-san!” Noya called, leaning in towards the receiver.

“This isn’t the time for that,” Kageyama snapped, folding his arms and trying to cover up his nerves. “This is really serious, and you guys are playing family reunion!”

“It’s not my fault he never calls, Yama-chan!” Now it was Kageyama’s turn to blush. Hinata brightened, working his jaw for a few moments. 

“Yah- Yama-chun...y-yama-chan! Yama-chan, Yama-chan!!”

“Don’t you dare!! You want to die?”

The distinctive sound of a wailing truck horn came through the phone, breaking them up before they too got scolded for getting off topic, and a barrage of creative curses followed suit. Tanaka grabbed the phone from Shimizu and covered the speaker, glaring at it as if it was the phone’s fault. 

“Watch your goddamn language! Are you calling us from the highway?”

“What’s it to you, baby bro?” The horn sounded again, in three short bursts, and Asahi flinched with each one. Saeko blared along, shameless.

“Uoooah!! Sh...shithead!!” Hinata parroted, prompting not only Kageyama but also Noya to slap a hand over his mouth. 

“Nii-san, you’re corrupting our baby!”

“Your WHAT? YOU HAVE A KID?? I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW YOU WERE MARRIED!!! HOLY SHIT YUU, WHY DIDN’T ALISA AND I GET INVITED TO THE WEDDING?? ARE WE AUNTS NOW????”

“He ain’t married, he hasn’t found the right bird-” Tanaka gave Noya a shit-eating grin. “I mean, broad, yet.”

“Wow, f-ffffudge you, Ryuu.”

“Guys,” Yachi mumbled. “Can we maybe just...get to the point?”

Asahi nodded, relieved to break up the action.

“Right! The point!” Noya put his hands on his hips and gave a leaderly stare around the group as if he wasn’t one of the main culprits in getting the situation off track. “What. Exactly. Is the point again.”

A sigh swept through the room.

“We need your help, Sae-chan,” Kiyoko said smoothly. 

“Of course, dollface, anything for my- son of a BITCH! They cut me off!!”

“Anyway, we have two very...interesting patients down here at the clinic,” Kiyoko continued, unruffled, “I don’t really know how to explain it other than...human-bird hybrids”

“That’s. Huh.” The sounds of ambient traffic continued, but Saeko didn’t add any commentary to the mix. 

“Do you know anything about them? One of them said that ‘military guys’ took his friends, and we were wondering if you could tell us more.”

Saeko laughed. Not her usual laugh, but a stilted, fake-sounding one that made everyone uneasy. 

“Saeko-”

Tires squealed as she pulled to the side of the road and parked, Noya and Ryuu gulped and glanced at one another. It took a lot to get Tanaka Saeko to pull over. The door slammed shut, tinny in the speakerphone, and the motley party held their collective breaths as they waited for more information. 

“Yoko-chan,” she started, too-sweetly. “Where the FUCK did you hear about that.”

Yachi swallowed, nervously wringing her hands in her skirt, but Kiyoko carried on undisturbed.

“I told you we had some unusual patients in the clinic. One of them uses sign language, so we’ve been able to communicate. He told me.”

“But- You’re- You’re kidding me, right??” 

Kiyoko glanced at her audience, but not even Tanaka or Noya knew what to do. Tanaka couldn’t remember hearing his sister this worked up since he stole her motorcycle for a whirl downtown to impress some chicks and nearly totalled it. Fury, terror, disbelief. It wasn’t a recipe for any kind of situation he wanted to be in again.

“I can put him on the phone, if you don’t believe me. He’s not much of a conversationalist, but-”

“No! No, that’s...really alright. I...never knew how to talk to the Hunters.”

“That sounds suspiciously pointed.”

“Tell me about it! Fuck, I- Shit, can you get rid of them?? Can you just-”

“Absolutely not.” Kiyoko’s voice was still calm, but unmistakably firm. “These people are in trouble, and forcing them out would do nothing good for them or us.”

Saeko’s laugh was getting hysterical. 

“You don’t know that! You don’t know anything about them! This isn’t something you want to be messing with, okay?? If you can’t kick ‘em out, just- just do something! Leave and hide! Shit, go on vacation! I don’t want you to get involved with this!”

“Saeko. Tell us what’s going on. Now.” Kiyoko’s seemingly endless patience was finally running out.

“I can’t! And I’m not just being cagey, okay? I’m not even supposed to think about this stuff, let alone talk about it over the PHONE, with CIVILIANS, who-” Whatever she said next was cut off by what sounded like the violent abuse of the nearest kickable road sign, but the point was clear.

“Nii-san, you don’t understand!” Noya cut in, grabbing the phone from Tanaka. “We found Hinata locked up and rotting in a circus, bein’ tortured and stuff!! And Asahi-” He swallowed and looked at him, encouraged by those big, round, fearful brown eyes. “Asahi lost his whole family and had to live like a hobo! This is awful! And- And if there are more like them-”

“Ohhh, there’s definitely more. And I’ll bet they dream of being used in circuses and sleeping under bridges, you got that?” 

“Tanaka-san, either tell us or don’t!” Kageyama growled, fed up with walking in circles.

“I don’t think you understand just how much I can’t do that! I’ve already said way too much!!”

“Government dog!” Ryuu remembered hearing that in an anime, and it seemed suitably offensive for the occasion. “I should have known you’d get all wrapped up in conspiracy shit the second you joined on!”

“It’s not like I’m trying to be vague or anything, asshole! I’m trying not to lose my job! Or any of your idiot little lives! Now take my advice, kick ‘em out, and go to fucking Hawaii for the next two months while I save your asses from yourselves!”

The line clicked, and the room echoed with her final, ominous warning.

It took a long time for anyone to speak up.

“Well, we can’t just abandon them!” Noya grabbed Asahi by the sleeve and shook it to make his point. Asahi’s wings poofed in defense and it was clear on his face that he was terrified they’d actually been considering it.

“That was never an option,” Kiyoko said coolly, grabbing her phone from Noya and sliding it into her back pocket. “By no means are we kicking them out.”

Hinata let out the breath he had been holding.

“Well, why shouldn’t we?” Kageyama was torn and nervous, his hands clenched into fists. “They’re dangerous, aren’t they? And people are after them, like seriously after them?”

Hinata stared at Kageyama, something close to betrayal in his wide eyes. 

“The government is after them, man,” Tanaka whispered, nodding slightly. “Not just like video game bad guys. Our actual government.”

“You cowards!” Noya glared from one roommate to the other, righteous fury making him almost two centimeters taller, though his aura seemed to tower. “How dare you! They’re our friends! They’re relying on us!”

“I’m relying on myself to not die, Yuu!” Tanaka jammed his hands in his pocket and took a page out of Kageyama’s book, pacing around the kitchen irritably. “Like- Like, we’re not in a fucking action movie, okay? We’re real, normal, living, squishy human beings. We can’t take on the whole goddamn government!”

“Not with that attitude!”

“Would you shut up?? You sound like an anime protagonist, dude. Get some logic in that pointy head of yours, Naruto!!”

“Both of you shut up!” Kageyama slammed a fist down on the countertop, and after a brief moment of regret and new appreciation for granite, he continued glaring at them. “We need to come up with a plan and stop fighting like dumbasses!”

“You’re the one that started it!” Tanaka lunged at him, but Yachi gathered all of the air in her lungs and darted between them.

“Please!!! Please- We need to think rationally!!”

“Yachi is right,” Kiyoko added, pushing both boys away from her terrified girlfriend. “We need to think seriously about this.”

“It’s the right thing!” Noya wasn’t giving up. 

“We could fucking die!” Tanaka wasn’t about to, either. 

“Both are good points. We need to decide where we stand right now. If you want to leave, fine. But do it now, while you still have the chance. There’s no time for indecision.”

Tanaka glared at the floor. Kageyama took up where he left off, beginning to pace again and looking in any direction but at the hurt on Hinata’s face. He didn’t understand. He was just some bird-guy who could hardly talk. What did he know about life-threatening danger?

Probably a lot.

Kageyama hissed through his teeth, guilt welling up in his throat.

“Fine. I’ll stay.”

“YAMA-CHAAAAN!” 

Hinata flew across the kitchen and hugged him, knocking him clean to the floor. Yachi smiled and looked at Tanaka. 

Tanaka squirmed. 

“She’s my sister, you guys! I’ve never heard her this scared before! You know how tough she is!”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but...we might not die, Ryuu.” Yachi said slowly, placing a gentle hand on his arm. 

“How can you know that??”

“We don’t know anything!” Kageyama’s voice warbled up from the floor, muffled under the weight of Hinata on his chest. 

“We know that they’re strong, and we know that they don’t deserve to be treated this way.”

“Don’t you remember what it smelled like, Ryuu? At the circus? In his trailer??”

Hinata squawked angrily, understandably not over it yet. 

“Shit, that was right in my ear, dumbass!” Kageyama spat. Hinata didn’t seem terribly bothered.

“And Saeko says that that’s a walk in the park for them! This is worse than those animal abuse commercials you cry at!” Noya folded his arms and gave him the choicest guilt-inducing stare he could manage. “In the arms of an angel, dude.” Asahi joined him in shaking his head and looking disappointed, displaying a real talent for it. 

“Fuck you! I don’t have 17 yen a day for those dogs, man! It’s not my fault! It’s not my fault!” Tears were already glistening in Ryuu’s eyes. 

“This is what you can do to make it right, Ryuu.” Noya put a hand on his shoulder and stared soulfully up at him. “This is your 17 yen a day, bro.”

Tanaka sniffled.

“Fuck. Fuck you. Alright, I’m in. But fuck all of you for dragging me into this!”

“This was your idea!!” Kageyama called, still pinned to the floor.

“Don’t ruin this for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, on tumblr I'm ceilingfan5 or fan5fics, and check out jean-bo-peep, my excellent co-pilot! See you next time...eventually! And thanks so much for being patient and sharing our story with everyone you know!


	9. Noya Fucks Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahi and Noya get a little closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for a fluff break! Between the last chapter and the next chapter, you're going to need it.   
> Thank you so much for being patient! We're both really busy, so it's sort of difficult to find time to work on it. In the same vein, Jean is going on a trip to Italy and then both of us will have finals, so this chapter may have to hold you for a while! 
> 
> As always, we love *love* love to get comments, even if you've commented before. Getting feedback (especially on multichaps like this) really helps to keep us going!

The walk home was subdued and it didn’t take long for the party to disperse once the coast was clear and the front door was locked. The gravity of the situation was finally starting to sink in, like the weight of the world on everyone's shoulders.

Conversation didn’t feel necessary as they each closed themselves into their rooms. Hinata had followed Kageyama into his like a lost puppy, but usual squabbling had subdued by the time Nishinoya emerged from his shower. Under normal conditions, the shower was a good place to think, but the longer Nishinoya spent under the water, the more muddled everything became. Conspiracy? Danger? Science? The government? Kidnapping? It was all too much to put together. Finally the heat was too much, and Noya doused himself in cold water and decided to stash away the X-File for now.

Maybe it was time to turn in for the night and leave his deep philosophical questions for his morning run.

Noya toweled off his hair and tugged on his boxers, silently willing himself to let it go long enough to sleep. If only the Power Rangers could defend his ass as skillfully as they defined it. Then again, that would open the world up to a whole host of dangerous possibilities. Who was to say that the government wasn’t creating Saturday morning cartoon style villains just like they were creating delicate, anxiety-ridden hobos like Asahi? What was the difference between combining say, a giant squid and a grizzly bear instead of a bird and a cute guy? 

A cute guy who currently nested in the living room. Who was completely able to look up at any moment and witness Noya in nothing but boxer shorts. As cool as the Power Rangers were, his deep affection for them wasn’t exactly something he wanted to advertise, not that he was sure Asahi had ever seen an episode. Really, the real danger there was that his boxers were the only thing standing between him and the wind, and he wasn’t exactly ready to streak through the living room at this stage of their relationship. Whatever their relationship was. Was it a relationship? Or...

Friendship. Okay. Probably just a friendship. Actually, they were barely acquaintances, if that was even a word people used anymore. They’d hardly known each other that long, and you had to be pretty good friends to be strong enough to respect each other’s underwear choices or well-defined abs or calves or private moles. Or tattoos gotten freshman year of college under the influence of free alcohol and peer pressure. Specifically, a poorly done tattoo of a certain favorite Pokemon. On a certain ass cheek. 

You had to be really good friends to show that off. 

The point was that there was no way in hell he was letting himself be spotted in the dead of the night in nothing but Power Ranger boxers by the birdman who--to remind any nosy busybodies interested--he did not fucking like. And who knew how well he could see in the dark? Hawks had fucking amazing eyesight, if his fourth grade field trip was anything to go off of. Surely it would be easy for Asahi to spot anything moving in his field of vision in the pitch black of the apartment. For a hawk, that had to be like broad daylight for catching a dumbass in cartoon undies.

Why hadn’t Tanaka offered to sleep on the couch? His dignity was on the line here! He pressed his face against the door and groaned as silently as he could possibly manage. He didn’t want to spend the night there, but...

A strange noise in the living room shook Noya from his rambling thoughts. Soft sniffles and shaky breaths echoed from Asahi’s corner, barely audible through the bathroom door. Then again...what was more important? His dignity, or his friend-slash-acquaintance? Friendly acquaintance? Shit, they had to at least be friends. 

And friends looked out for friends who were crying. Even if they were friends in their underwear. 

Noya opened the bathroom door, no longer concerned about being spotted. He wanted to be spotted, actually, since startling Asahi had already proven to be a no-go. He edged out into the room, careful to make no sudden moves and avoid the slippery feathers. Maybe they should all get bells, like people in the woods to avoid surprising bears. Or squid-bears. (Squares.)

“Hey, buddy…” Noya said softly, feeling awkward talking to Asahi like a child, “What’s up?”

Asahi, thankfully, didn’t jump away like his first days in the apartment. His hair had fallen loose from the ponytail holder, and Noya had to put on his internal Gay Blinders to avoid waxing poetic about it. Fat tears rolled down Asahi’s tan cheeks, golden light thrown from the bathroom illuminating his face like an oil painting of an angel, and when he lifted his gaze, the sorrow in Asahi’s eyes hit Noya square in the balls. 

“Uh,” he breathed, feeling even stupider. “Shit, are you okay?” He squatted next to Asahi and tried to make himself look as nonthreatening as possible. 

Not terribly difficult when you’re half-naked and ten centimeters shorter than normal, due to your glorious head of hair being wet and droopy.

Asahi wiped at his face and sniffled, looking embarrassed.

“Those guys...The ones you were talking about earlier...They were your family, right? Your friends?”

Asahi nodded. 

“Shit, I’ll bet you miss ‘em. ...Guess it’s probably scary, too. Not...not knowing what’s happened to them.” He stared at his hands and wished he knew how to sign. Kiyoko and the others made it look so easy.

“Yes, I’m...scared for them.”

Noya’s heart shattered into a billion pieces. As if the rest of his body parts that could be metaphorically broken weren’t damaged enough as-is.

“Hey, hey, it’ll be okay, okay? We’re going to do something about this. They’re not going to be lost forever. They’re just...lost right now-”

Asahi’s face crumpled as a new wave of tears rose. Noya backtracked like lightning, terrified of making things worse. Emotions had never been his forte, even his own, and dealing with someone else’s was firmly outside of his comfort zone. 

“Not- that- they’re lost- or that- forever is a really long time, we’ll probably figure things out soon! Don’t worry! Don’t, um- Don’t cry-” 

He reached out to Asahi awkwardly, unsure what exactly he was offering or how it would help, but it sure was worth a try. Asahi’s warm weight shifted and settled on Noya’s shoulder, and it was at that moment Noya knew his fate was sealed for good. 

“Yeah, um, that’s it,” Noya mumbled, patting Asahi’s hair gently as he dissolved into more sobs.

Asahi slowly wound his arms around Noya’s back, thick and heavy, and Noya was suddenly grateful he hadn’t put on a shirt. As friends. 

Over Asahi’s shoulder Noya had a perfect view of Asahi’s wings, tense and majestic in the golden light of the bathroom. Noya wondered if there were any shitty teen romance novels between a human and an angel. Probably, right? So it was possible. 

“That’s...tough, b-bro.” Noya hoped he didn’t sound like he was wheezing. Or choking. Or in love. Because he wasn’t in love. At all. 

Asahi must have known that he was dealing fatal blows, because those impossible russet wings twitched, extended, and curled tightly around Noya’s slim, unprotected back. No escape. 

Noya was not in love. His stomach was not filled with butterflies, his heart was not pounding nails into his ribs, his neck was not burning hot. 

But most of all, most importantly, an absolute, undeniable fact: he did not like the birdman.

They were too close, so close that he could feel the warmth radiating from Asahi’s skin through his thin shirt, and his eyes were suddenly right in front of Noya’s face, too big and too round and too perfect and worst of all, his lips…so close and soft and inviting...so very...close... 

“NOYA. WHY IS THE FUCKING LIGHT ON.”

Noya jumped and bolted away from Asahi like he’d been electrocuted. Tanaka yawned and chuckled as he padded toward the bathroom. 

“No, please. by all means, loudly make out in the open. Not disturbing anyone’s beauty sleep or existential crises or anything.’

“Bro- I don’t- you- it’s not what it looks like-”

“Do I look like I give a shit what it looks like?” Tanaka scratched his ass and squinted blearily at them. “Well, yeah, I kinda do. It looks like you two are about to get it on, so please continue and end the sexual tension that’s been driving me insane. You know how I feel about soap operas.”

“WE ARE NOT-” Noya spluttered and gestured wildly, desperate to fill in the words that kept falling out of his mouth. “We were- I was trying to make him feel better-”

“With your lips?”

“I DON’T FUCKING LIKE THE BIRDMAN, would you STOP??? Ryuu, come on, that’s INSANE! LOOK at him!!”

Asahi’s shoulders drooped, drawing his wings back towards his body. Noya blanched and backtracked. 

“I mean- I- I like you, I just d-don’t...LIKE-like you- But- I mean! How could a guy like me ever- with you- really, it’s just unnatural!”

“I don’t think mutants understand grade-schooler logic, man. You hurt his big, feathery feelings.” Tanaka promptly stepped into the bathroom and shut the door before Noya could fire back at him. Frustrated, he turned back to Asahi, opening his mouth to say something, anything to heal the situation and get Asahi to stop looking at him like that.

But a wall had risen between them. Asahi had tucked into himself, staring coldly down the hall. With the bathroom door closed, only the light of the moon through the windows illuminated Asahi’s rugged silhouette. Even the shadows seemed to judge Noya.

“Asahi, I-”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP OUT THERE. WE- I’M TRYING TO SLEEP.” Kageyama’s voice bellowed down the hall, sleepy squawking from Hinata echoing after it. Noya clenched his hands into fists and got off of the floor. There was no way anything he said now would help the mess he’d gotten himself into, and if he was being totally honest with himself, he kind of deserved it.

“My arm fell asleep, get off it, dumbass…” Noya could barely hear as he shut the bedroom door loudly after himself. At least someone was having a better night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://goo.gl/AcGbgA

**Author's Note:**

> We currently have about 18 chapters planned, so if you want to see more, please tell us what you think! We're really excited to share this au and if you want to see more, check out jean-bo-peep.tumblr.com/tagged/wings_au . We would absolutely, especially love to see fanart. My tumblr is ceilingfan5 if you want to message me there! Find more of my writing at fan5fics or check out jean's blog, jean-bo-peep!


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